{"id":1429,"date":"2015-04-14T22:46:53","date_gmt":"2015-04-15T03:46:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/?p=1429"},"modified":"2015-04-04T22:55:08","modified_gmt":"2015-04-05T03:55:08","slug":"10-reasons-to-stick-your-neck-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/10-reasons-to-stick-your-neck-out\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Reasons to Stick your Neck Out!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"5434541912_f86ea2af3c_o\"Eight\u00a0years ago, I called my business “Resolve Gets Results,” because the world “resolve” connotes both the determination to succeed and the problem solving mentality essential in business.<\/p>\n

When I first started blogging 8\u00a0months ago, I didn\u2019t know where it was going to take me or quite why I was doing it. I had a gut feeling it would be a worthwhile experiment from which I would gain valuable insights that would inform and improve my business thinking and actions. So it has proved.<\/p>\n

Writing blogs has been an amazing and humbling journey so far. It has enabled me to find a clear voice. What has surprised me most is the feedback from both existing and new contacts. It seems people like the fact that I\u2019m not afraid to speak from the head, heart\u00a0and<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0soul, to be honest, and to show vulnerability.<\/p>\n

What I write in these blogs is a natural expression of who I am and my deep passions at work. I realise from the comments they’re attracting that it appeals to people because of its authenticity and originality. However, this arises not because I have any particular wisdom, knowledge or skill, but because I\u2019m a student of those who do, a keen observer of what\u2019s going on around me, and I\u2019m prepared to say what seems to be in many people\u2019s heads which normally remains unsaid!<\/p>\n

I strive to use these insights to slowly, painfully become a better person myself, a better leader and a more successful businessman. So I\u2019m not \u2018preaching\u2019 anything that I\u2019m not striving every day to practice.<\/p>\n

In the contrarian mould I hold dear, inspired by the attitudes and behaviours of the Top 1% whom I strive so fiercely to follow, here are my thoughts on why you should courageously seek and speak the truth at all times in business, constructively of course, intelligently, but without compromise, and no matter what outcomes you might fear.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve entitled them\u00a010 great reasons to stick your neck out<\/strong>! I hope one or two of them at least strike a chord and are helpful.<\/p>\n

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  1. We each have only one piece of the jigsaw<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 we need each other\u2019s perspectives to avoid unnecessary pitfalls and to succeed more often and more consistently. Being honest\u00a0with sensitivity<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0about what you don’t know as much as what you do know is a great way to improve your own chances by learning from others, by teaching others (which they will appreciate), and by improving communication, mutual understanding, relationships and teamwork.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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    1. Life is too short to tolerate 2nd, 3rd or 4th best, or worse.\u00a0<\/strong>Don\u2019t ever risk putting yourself in the situation in future when you have any regrets because you failed to do or say what you know you should have done.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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      1. Others need the courage we can give them by our example. The silent, decent majority are crying out to be led.\u00a0<\/strong>As noted political thinker Edmund Burke said so famously 300 years ago “Bad things happen when good people do nothing”. It leaves an empty playing field for cynical, bullying, sociopathic takers. Adam Grant\u2019s powerful study \u2018Give and Take\u2019 (2013), summarised beautiully in his\u00a0article in the April 2013 McKinsey Quarterly<\/a>, found the vast majority of us are givers in our private lives and, lo and behold, respond best to givers at work. These people do not always need to be in the top jobs, but they need to be visible and to influence others by their positive attitudes and behaviour.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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        1. Negativity is corrosive – we’re all guilty of it.<\/strong>\u00a0I read a blog this week on how to motivate people at work and beat apathy. I agreed with most of it, but not the key finding, which was the need to get rid of the negative people who spoil it for everyone else. Being brutally honest a company which did that wouldn’t have many employees left! We’re all guilty at some point of gossip, cynicism, and of undermining others, often unthinkingly, sometimes deliberately, perhaps in quite subtle ways. Research conclusively demonstrates that organisations in which people support and collaborate with each other perform much better.\u00a0So fight negativity and unwarranted cynicism wherever you encounter them – don’t let them reign unchecked.<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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          1. It\u2019s great for your mental health and your close relationships.<\/strong>\u00a0Depression has become a modern epidemic as society fragments progressively and people abandon traditional moral and religious structures. The essential human search for meaning in life has been severely compromised and we’ve got to find something nourishing to fill the chasm. Seeking and applying wisdom pays dividends in all areas of your life – put simply it makes you a happier person.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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            1. Whatever the meaning of life is, it definitely isn\u2019t \u2018keeping your nose clean\u2019 (staying out of ‘trouble’) \u2013 that\u2019s a definition of mediocrity!\u00a0<\/strong>One thing is certain – you will not achieve your destiny by staying ‘out of trouble’ and avoiding any forms of pain. The chances are you’ll be nowhere near as happy and you’ll get ‘pain’ in plenty of other ways anyway. This is an extension of the jigsaw piece point (No 1 above) – life is so much more vast and stimulating than we can conceive of in our own tiny world.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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              1. Being frightened of making mistakes is no excuse<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 we constantly commit the sins of commission (we do things we shouldn’t do) and the sins of omission (we don’t do things we should do) whether we like it or not, so stop trying to avoid mistakes and get stuck in! By all means learn, but don\u2019t avoid.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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                1. The fear of embarrassment or humiliation is one of the most deep seated and damaging, yet unwarranted, human traits<\/strong>, (in my humble opinion!) My recent beginner\u2019s exposure to neuroscience has taught me that unfortunately this insidious human behaviour is hardwired into the relatively primitive, lower areas of our brains, so it is devilishly difficult to control, let alone defeat. I believe it explains far more of the worst of human behaviour than is commonly recognised, especially the abuses we witness from those in positions of power. I also see overwhelming evidence that those who have been subjected to apparently career threatening or terminating humiliations \u2013 Churchill over Gallipoli in 1915 to name but one \u2013 emerge as stronger and wiser leaders as a result. I would go so far as to call humiliation, indeed often\u00a0repeated<\/strong><\/em>humiliation,\u00a0a<\/strong>\u00a0true leader\u2019s essential rite of passage!<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0After all, to be humiliated is literally to be made humble, and the research evidence that Top 1% leaders are humble is\u00a0absolutely overwhelming<\/strong><\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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                  1. People will admire and love you for it \u2013 what could possibly be better than that?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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                    1. Above all it\u2019s massively liberating and great fun!<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                      So stop holding back, grit your teeth, and plunge into the fray! Yes, there will be some pain, but you\u2019ll feel more alive than ever and you won\u2019t regret it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                      Eight\u00a0years ago, I called my business “Resolve Gets Results,” because the world “resolve” connotes both the determination to succeed and the problem solving mentality essential in business. When I first started blogging 8\u00a0months ago, I didn\u2019t know where it was going to take me or quite why I was doing it. I had a gut… 10 Reasons to Stick your Neck Out!<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":1430,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[408],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-management-leadership"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1429"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1431,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1429\/revisions\/1431"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}